Thursday, September 24, 2009

Hiddenbrooke course ranked 9th nationally

Vallejo's Hiddenbrooke Golf Course was named the nation's ninth best public course for 2010 in the second annual Golf World "Readers' Choice Awards," magazine officials announced Wednesday.

The awards recognize the country's 50 best private, public and resort golf facilities, Golf World said, and are based solely on the input of readers. The lists will be published in the magazine's Sept. 28 issue.

"It's an honor to be recognized in a national survey," Hiddenbrooke Golf Club General Manager Ollie Becker said. "It's nice to have a facility of this caliber in Vallejo."

Becker credits having earned this "prestigious award" to "a great team that works really hard. We also earned 4.5 stars out of five from Golf Digest, which we're also proud of."

The full lists of Golf World's awards, including special online-only sections, can be viewed at www.golfworld.com.

Golf World readers were asked to evaluate the nation's golf facilities based on 13 performance criteria, including course quality, conditions, reputation-prestige and service.

Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., is the top-rated facility in the private category. No California facilities ranked in the top five in that category.

With seven, New Jersey has the most private facilities on the list of any state, followed by New York's five and Georgia and Pennsylvania with four each.

Golf World readers voted Forest Dunes Golf Club of Roscommon, Mich., the number one public facility. The only California facility ranked in the top five in that category was Stevinson Ranch Golf Club in Stevinson, which ranked fifth.

With seven, Michigan has the most facilities of any state on the public list, followed by Nevada with five and California and Florida with four each.

South Carolina's Kiawah Island Golf Resort was voted the No. 1 resort for the second consecutive year, according to the announcement.

Hawaii's eight resorts made it the state with the most resorts, followed by Florida with seven and California with five.

The California resorts that made the list were The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast, at No. 36, Palm Desert's Marriott's Shadow Ridge Resort at No. 41, and Indian Wells Golf Resort in Indian Wells at No. 47.